Seed-saving boom resurges as farmers share seeds with one another

"Based on my own experience, crops whose seed is saved locally are the most flavorful. Take bottle gourd, for example - only the ones where farmers save their own seed actually taste like bottle gourd." Chen Qifeng, who runs a seed shop in Zhubei, says that selecting and saving "local varieties" in each region is an extremely important thing. He explains that so-called local varieties are formed when native, wild varieties are domesticated over a long period of time, and they are the varieties best suited to growing in that place.

"What color does the stem of foxtail millet have to turn before you can start saving seed?" "I grow black soybeans myself and save my own seed too, so why is the growth poor?" "I want to save seed myself - how should I choose the seeds?" "What is hybridization? Which varieties are suitable for hybridizing?" Yesterday afternoon, at the Meinong Farmers' Association in Kaohsiung, a rather unusual "Farmer Seed-Sharing Gathering" was held.

This event, co-organized by the Haoran Foundation, the Taiwan Rural Front Association, and the NTU Seed Laboratory, had a seed area at the registration desk piled high with seeds of crops such as tomato, foxtail millet, and okra, and many small paper bags were prepared on site so that farmers could write down their name, place of origin, and seed name, and exchange seeds and farming knowledge with one another.

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